My Spouse And I Adopted A Child. We Want To Get Divorced. Is Our Divorce Handled Differently In Florida Because Our Child Was Adopted?

Legally speaking, no, your divorce is not handled any differently if you adopted your children, or if either you or your spouse did a stepparent adoption. By law, you are the legal parents of that child, and you are supposed to be treated the same as biological parents.

However, there are sometimes special issues that arise in divorces involving adopted children.

First, if either you or your spouse is the biological parent of one of your children, and the other spouse is the adopted parent, there is a very good chance the court will take that fact into consideration when making a decision about custody.

Also, many adopted children deal with attachment issues at some point in their lives. If your adopted child has attachment issues, divorce may be especially traumatic for that child.

The child may have had a hard time dealing with the adoption and the loss of his or her biological family, and now the adopted family is splitting up. However, it’s also important to keep in mind that all children who are going through a divorce deal with anger, sadness, and confusion.

If your adopted child is having special issues related to the divorce, it’s a good idea for him or her to speak with a therapist. A good therapist can help your child work through his or her emotions and find ways to cope with the divorce.